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Could Russia oppose enforcement of its own proposal on Syria?

Russia pushed Syria to agree to put its chemical stockpile under international control. But Putin's government is opposing a UN resolution that would outline strict consequences for Syria if it doesn't comply.

By Ariel Zirulnick, Staff writer

鈥 A daily summary of global reports on security issues.

When Russia succeeded in getting Syria to agree to put its chemical weapons under international control, it was hailed as a diplomatic victory that could avert war. But as negotiations begin today on a proposed United Nations resolution to place Syria's stockpile under outside surveillance, a new diplomatic impasse has cropped up.

Russia strongly objects to American and French demands for a UN Security Council resolution that would lay out "very severe consequences" if Syria doesn't give up all its chemical weapons. The Kremlin is also against the wording of the proposed resolution, which blames an Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack near Damascus on the regime and requests the matter be taken to an international court, Associated Press reports.聽

鈥淸Russian Foreign Minister Sergei] Lavrov noted that France鈥檚 proposal to accept a Security Council resolution鈥 blaming the Syrian authorities for the possible use of chemical weapons is inadmissible,鈥 the foreign ministry said in a statement, according to Russian news outlet RIA Novosti.聽

Russia and the US are at odds over who was behind the attack outside Damascus that allegedly killed more than 1,000 people. Neither side has made its full array of intelligence public, instead expecting the public to trust that they are working off of reliable evidence.聽

This difference of opinion is evident in each country's media. While much US coverage has been based around the assumption that the Syrian regime was behind the Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack, the Russian government's news station RT urges viewers to consider that the rebels could have carried it out and cast doubt on the reliability of US intelligence.

And in an interview with former CIA analyst聽Ray McGovern, RT casts doubt on the veracity of the intelligence being cited by US officials.

Quoting Mr. McGovern, the outlet reports that "the intelligence gathered against Syria鈥檚 Assad was manufactured by elements within the spy community in order to mislead the US President to take punitive action" and that "CIA Director John Brennan is perpetrating a pre-Iraq-War-type fraud on members of Congress, the media, [and] the public.鈥

In its live updates on Syria, RT reports that today Russia presented to the UN Security Council its evidence that both the Syrian government and the rebels have chemical weapons. Meanwhile, Russian outlet Pravda reports that Duma deputy聽Alexei Pushkov, chairman of the international affairs committee, said that both sides have chemical weapons and cites a July 2013 McClatchy story about a 100-page Russian report provided to the UN that "contained evidence of the use of chemical weapons in Aleppo in March 2013."